The Washington Capitals took an important win over the Philadelphia Flyers on March 31, with a score of 6-4, putting the Capitals just a single goal behind their opponents in the Metropolitan Division. Philadelphia needs to score three more goals on the season than the Columbus Blue Jackets to claim a wild-card place in the NHL Playoffs, and Washington needs to score four more goals.
For the Capitals, Alex Ovechkin and Tom Wilson scored twice. Ovechkin is now on the 20th 30-goal season of his career, and he is now one of four players to have scored 30 goals in a season over the age of 40. Wilson was playing in his 900th career game. Jakob Chychrun and Ryan Leonard also scored for the Capitals. Travis Sanheim, Christian Dvorak, Carl Grundstrom, and Denver Barkey scored for the Flyers.
Capitals Take a 2-0 Lead In the First Period
Both the Capitals and the Flyers had chances to score on power plays in a game that saw a total of 11 penalties, but couldn’t get on the board. That changed at 14:59, when Pierre-Luc Dubois assisted Wilson to score. Rasmus Sandin also got the assist.
Connor McMichael and Matt Roy assisted Ovechkin in scoring his 30th goal of the season, more history for the forward who scored his 1,000th combined career goal on March 23. At the end of the first period, the Capitals led 2-0, but the Flyers led in terms of shots on goal with 11-5. Philadelphia simply had a hard time getting past Logan Thompson, as has been the case for most teams this season, even when the Washington defense fell short.
Flyers Fight Back In Second Period
It didn’t take long for the score to equalize in the second period. Sanheim scored 39 seconds in, assisted by Travis Konecny and Dvorak. The visiting team dominated play until Grundstrom scored at 4:36, assisted by Trevor Zegras. The score was 2-2.
The Capitals responded excellently, retaking control of the game. Chychrun scored at 6:58, assisted by Dubois and Leonard. Ovechkin made several more shots that couldn’t quite get in, but Leonard delivered for the Capitals at 17:37, assisted by Dubois and Chychrun, making the score 4-2 Washington.
In the second period, the Capitals outshot the Flyers on goal 8-5.
Excitement In the Third Period
The Capitals need to improve their early-period defense from now on, as Dvorak scored 33 seconds into the third period, assisted by Konecny and Sanheim. Ovechkin scored his 31st goal of the season at 3:47, assisted by McMichael and Chychrun. The score went to 5-3, Capitals. Barkey pulled the Flyers’ gap back to one goal at 7:52, with assists from Rasmus Ristolainen and Noah Cates.
Both teams did a good job of stopping scoring for the next few minutes, then Wilson scored his second goal of the night. Roy and Dubois got the assist, Dubois’ fourth of the night, and just his ninth on the season.
The game ended 6-4 to the Capitals, with the Flyers having more shots on goal in the third period, 8-5. Philadelphia also outshot Washington, 24-18. Thompson made 20 saves while Flyers Goalie Dan Vladar made 12.
The Capitals were the dominant team offensively, winning 7 takeaways, totaling up just 50% of the Flyers’ giveaways (9), and scoring on 2 of 3 power plays. The teams are tied 2-2 in game results, with Philadelphia winning 4-2 on Feb. 3 and 4-1 on March 11, and Washington winning 3-1 on Feb. 25.
What’s Next
This was an improvement in play from the Capitals, who are making a late run for a playoff spot. The Flyers are in a slightly better position, though their 8-game winning streak is now over. Offensively, the Capitals have been showing improvement in the past few games, while the Flyers definitely struggled against Washington, even with Thompson’s excellence in goal.
The Capitals will travel to play the New Jersey Devils on April 2, while the Flyers host the Detroit Red Wings on April 2.
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